Fire crews manage brush fires in Oak Hill, Osteen

Fire crews have managed to quell for the most part two fires in Volusia County that sprung up Saturday afternoon.

KATIE KUSTURASTAFF WRITER

Fire crews have managed to quell for the most part two fires in Volusia County that sprung up Saturday afternoon.

A fire in Oak Hill, which was spotted about 12:47 p.m. at 15 to 20 acres, grew to about 100 acres shortly after 4 p.m., a spokesman for the Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association said. Crews from Volusia County, New Smyrna Beach, Deltona, Brevard County and the Florida Forest Service were called to battle the blaze. By 5 p.m. a helicopter from Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was called to assist.

By about 8 p.m., crews had established fire lines around all of the Oak Hill fire near Interstate 95 and Osteen-Maytown Road, the spokesman said.

Volusia County units were also called Saturday afternoon to a fast-moving brush fire near the Quail Roost Ranches subdivision in Osteen, the spokesman said. The fire started off Boy Scout Camp Road and required nearly 40 water drops from a forest service helicopter from Ocala. Seminole County also assisted with the Osteen blaze.

Crews had the Osteen fire about 50 percent contained by about 8 p.m., the spokesman said. The fire claimed a pole barn and two vehicles by 4:30 p.m.

Another fire near Osteen was spotted about 5 p.m. near Seminole Run and River Run roads. The size of the fire was not immediately clear.

There also were two small fires in Flagler County during the afternoon, each less than an acre, officials said. One of the fires was near County Roads 305 and 90, and the other near the White Eagle Lounge off U.S. 1. Both are reported to be under control.

A Red Flag Warning was issued for noon to 8 p.m. in most Central Florida counties, including Volusia and Flagler, because of very low humidity, according to the National Weather Service.

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index averaged 555 Saturday in Volusia County and 465 in Flagler, on the scale of zero to 800, with 800 being desert-like conditions, according to the Florida Forest Service.